Spontooneous

So cool he required two nicknames: Sonny Red. On the other hand, Sylvester Kyner might be one of the uncoolest names.

Hey, Dmitry, Did you make it to the show? Give us a report! I heard that Paul Motian had open-heart surgery not long ago. Is he looking and playing OK?

Tom, Condolences from the bottom of my heart. Peace to you in this difficult time. (If there's anything I can do on the KC end, you know where to call.)

Actually, there'll be two CDs, Conrad says. The first one is centered on the "Kind of Blue" music (I loved hearing "Flamenco Sketches" recast as a guaguanco). The second is centered on "Sketches of Spain."

I'll second everything he said. It was Ruben Rodriguez on bass and Pedro Martinez on congas. (The program book had the personnel wrong; the local paper got it right -- wink wink nudge nudge.) You meet the nicest people in the lobby at these shows.

SOLID is the word for Duke. Incredible consistency, and consistent beauty. If he ever made a lousy record as leader, I sure haven't heard it. A recommendation: Hunt down some of his Steeplechase recordings. The solo sessions, the "Duke's Artistry" date with Art Farmer, the "Duke's Delight" date with Charlie Rouse -- ahh, heck, just about anything. Treat yourself. That white tray on your "Flight to Jordan" means it's from the Collector's Choice series, about 1994 or '95. They're straight reissues of CDs that BN had already yanked from the catalog.

The Great Pumpkin and the Sinner Lady So Long, Shermy (anybody remember Shermy?)

All the dates with Dolphy, of course. (Beware the out-of-tune piano on the Five spot recordings.) Let me reiterate the recommendation for "Booker Little and Friend," which gets overlooked because it doesn't have Dolphy. Some of his richest music and best writing is here. Look also for the "Booker Little" date on the Time label, the one with Scott LaFaro. It was on CD for a while; shows up in cutouts now and then. Some of his most relaxed playing is here. What a difference Booker would have made had he been able to hang around even a few more years! Still, he made a big difference in just 23.

The NYT piece is disappointing if you approach it as a portrait of McShann. And it's disappointing from a Chamber of Commerce angle too. But the writer does give you an idea of how factionalized the scene is -- the stylistic conflicts between musicians, and the conflicts between the conservative and open-minded audience groups. And because we're so factionalized, we don't work together to publicize ourselves as a jazz city, we don't work together to build audiences, we don't work together to keep a jazz festival alive. Sad to say, the NYT got it right. (They may have erred on the side of politeness. But so have some other media outlets I can think of.)

Oh, yeah, "One-Upmanship" was a good one. I confess that the Soul Note "Seagulls" and "Git-Go" aren't favorites of mine either. And I had high expectations for them, being a fan of EVERYBODY on them. Sometimes Mal's repetitiveness seems purposeful, even magical. But his playing on this date doesn't take off very well. I understand that much of the time, the trumpeter in Mal's quintet was Benny Bailey, not Woody. I wonder if things might have fit together more comfortably with him aboard. (Remind me to start a Benny Bailey thread one of these days.)

What a story, Chris! Now back to work on my script casting Charlie Parker as a key scientist on the Manhattan Project.

These are the best new Christmas jazz tracks to reach my ears in quite a few years, guys. "O Christmas Tree" is an absolute knockout. Keep it up! And thanks, as always.

Hey, Eric, I'm in Johnson County and also suffer from lousy AM reception. I tried a bigger antenna and things got better. Take a look at this site for a cheap solution: http://members.cox.net/rwagoner/columns/am_antenna.html I'd agree that the better your equipment, the more it reveals how lousy AM sound really is.

Aw, c'mon. Wouldn't most of us spend some of that $750K on a Mosaic order?

Think about it: In our present-day world, the ONLY instrumental music that many people have been exposed to is background music -- on TV, in movies, in elevators, at the grocery store. So they are CONDITIONED not to listen. This is a huge contributor to the audience-building problems that both jazz and classical music are facing now.

I'm remembering an experiment of my teen years. It involved cleaning LPs with rubbing alcohol. Gives the LP surface a lovely gray finish.

Favorite Morgan comps: Totem Pole Desert Moonlight Growing Pains Mr. Kenyatta and, OK, Ceora, which is the only song I ever called a radio station to request.

The things stuck in my head today have been: Alban Berg's Violin Concerto Hindemith's Concert Music for Strings and Brass Lee Morgan's Desert Moonlight (has anybody ever made any better arrangement of anything for just two horns?)

Another vote for Keller here. But I don't mind the Emerson set at all. Sure wish the Juilliard '60s set was on CD. I'm keeping those LPs too.

I get paid (not a lot) to write about jazz -- but I admit, I get burnt out on it, and sometimes I reach the point where it's the last thing I want to hear. Fortunately, that feeling passes. When the burnout is coming on, often it's because I've been listening to the same style or period. Gotta mix things up. I've been a classical listener since I was about 7 (that's 37 years ago), and I've been through classical phases so intense that I've temporarily burned myself out on that too. Right now I try to balance jazz and classical every day. A little blues and some rock too.

Ahh, no. You're not the only ones interested. My ex-wife got really tired of hearing "Mad About Tadd" on vinyl. Still got the LP. Love that arrangement of "If You Could See Me Now." The ex was really tired of the Philly Joe/Dameronia "Look, Stop and Listen" date too. Still waiting for that one on CD.

Bird Feathers is a blues. Charlie's Wig is based on When I Grow Too Old to Dream. Relation to CTA: All written by Americans at mid-20th century. Looking for further relations might be a stretch.

Y'all go easy on my man Bohuslav Martinu. I just love the Sixth Symphony, probably the best of the bunch because it doesn't try very hard to follow "symphonic form." Wouldn't want to live without the Fourth either.

A reply to Free For All Paul's question... The Blue Note cutout CDs were sold at the Camelot Music stores in Kansas City too. Like you, I must have bought at least two dozen. Still have many of them, too. I remember the thrill of hearing "Soul Station" and "The Big Beat" for the first time. And you never forget your first "In 'n Out." (The Joe Henderson date, I mean.) P.S., Free For All and his trombone had a really great camera position when the Plaza lighting ceremony was locally telecast on Thanksgiving night.

I forgot about Eduard Tubin (No. 2, No. 8). And Robert Simpson (5, 6, 7, 9).